The Picture

The Picture: Chapter 3

            “AAHH!” I screamed when I woke up the next morning.  I didn’t recognize anything around me and I panicked.

              Caleb came running in a few seconds later.

            “What’s wrong? What happened?” he asked.  His hair was no longer spiky like it had been the day before; it was now wild and untamed.  Short black hair fell just below his eyes and stuck out in every direction.  It was so inviting; I wanted to run my fingers through it. 

            His worried eyes shot to every corner of the room and then to me, reminding me why he’d come into my room in the first place.  “Oh my goodness, Caleb, I’m so sorry.  I just woke up and I…I forgot where I was,” I said, embarrassed.

            “It’s alright,” he said wrapping his arms around my waist for a hug.  I wrapped mine around his neck. “This place is hard to get used to,” he finished.  I fit nicely in his arms and it was so perfect that I felt like putty.  He was so warm and…

            My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden loud gong.

            “What was that?” I asked.

            “That was Mister Nicolae. Something’s happened.  Get dressed quickly I’ll be back in three minutes.” He pulled away and left the room.

            I felt like wearing something casual and comfortable so I put on a pair of loose black pants and a nicely fitting white T-shirt.  I put my hair in a low ponytail and waited for Caleb to come back.  As I sat on the bed, I noticed a wooden floorboard near the mirror that was a slightly lighter shade of brown than the others.  I walked over to the board and attempted to lift it up when I heard a knock at the door.  It was Caleb.  His hair was a little more tamed than it had been before, but he left it a little wild.  I liked it. He wore a ripped sleeve black shirt, black pants, and high black boots.  Lucky I’d thought casual!

            “Mister Nicolae wants you in the moon room right now,” he said looking worried.

            “What’s the moon room?” I asked.

            “It’s the round room you first saw when we came in yesterday.”

            As I walked to grab the crystal from the dresser I had to ask, “Why the do you call it the moon room?”

            “Because it’s the only room with a window and once a month, at full moons, they both align directly above it,” he replied.

            “Moons?  Don’t you just mean moon?”

            “We have two moons here, one is white and the other is red.  At full moon they align and…” he trailed off, “well that’s all you need to know for now.”

            I grabbed the crystal and we ran to the moon room.  Everyone else was already there waiting.

            “We must hurry, she’s realized we have the Witch and she’s sending her Zumeres to try and capture her.  Caleb, it’s time,” Mister Nicaolae explained seriously.

            “Absolutely not,” Caleb responded strongly, defensively.

            “Caleb, this is how I saw it happen.  This is how it has to happen.”  I was completely confused.

            “Absolutely not!” Caleb gritted through his teeth. “She doesn’t even know how to use the crystal!”

            They had a stare-down for a few minutes and then Mister Nicolae caved. “Fine then. You, me, Opal, and Reed are going to have to go out and keep them as far away as we can.  It’s important that they do not come anywhere near here,” said Mister Nicolae quickly obviously in a rush.